midnight & indigo: Nineteen Speculative Stories by Black Women Writers

by Ianna A. Small, Erin Brown (Contributor)

A Black woman performs a strange ritual in a public space. A house has protected its beloved owner for decades. It knows better than most, that things that die don’t necessarily stay dead. A young man enters a small, mysterious Black town in 1955 Florida. A shape-shifting being experiences decades of American history. The proprietress of a spiritual supply store receives a visitor. Immortal custodians circle Earth on a spaceship, in which a singer prepares for her longest tour yet. A man wakes to find the world caught in an eternal slumber. Is he its only conscious survivor? A woman connects with her ancestors during a storm. After the aunt who raised her disappears, a girl builds a person from river mud to cut through her loneliness. A homeowner hosts a repast for her husband. A woman has a strange condition—whenever she’s near a dead body, she coughs up a red flower. Another buys the home of her childhood dreams and realizes it has dreams of its own. A neighborhood family gives birth to girl butterflies. ...and many more stories. midnight & indigo celebrates Black women writers with the second Speculative fiction issue of their literary journal. From haunted houses to spaceships, old worlds to new phenomena, nineteen emerging and established Black storytellers share tales of fear and discovery, redemption, and resistance. Contributors Ugochi Agoawike, Leah Andelsmith, Tara Baldridge, Erin Brown, Lynn Brown, Ozzie M. Gartrell, Wednesday Herron, Davida Kilgore, Juliana Lamy, Jesica Lovelace, Ellen McBarnette, Mary McLaughlin Slechta, Chantel Melendez, Frances Ogamba, Jasmyne K. Rogers, Wendy Shaia, Sama Sherman, Bria Strothers, and Desirée Winns

259 pages, Paperback

Published January 31, 2022

Reviews

[Jai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Midnight & Indigo was a new exciting experience for me. Nineteen very different stories written by black women that touched on themes that may be universal but can be understood from a black perspective. Several stories really hit me. I took to them much faster and loved how the author wove her words together. I look forward to the next volume.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hey! My short story is in here, you know it's gonna get 5 stars!

On a serious note, I love this series. I fell in love with the first anthology and feel the same about this one. Such a diverse collection of intensely real stories from Black women. Yes, they’re speculative, but so much of our culture is rooted in ancestral spirits, magic, and imagination, they resonate with me in a whole other level.

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved most of the stories in this collection and found them unique and fascinating.